Love isn't supposed to be an addiction. It isn't supposed to leave you bleeding.

Kona pushed, Keira pulled, and in their wake, they left behind destruction.

She sacrificed everything for him.

It wasn't enough.

But the wounds of the past can never be completely forgotten and still the flame remains, slumbers between the pleasure of yesterday and the thought of what might have been.

Now, sixteen years later, Keira returns home to bury the mother who betrayed her, just as Kona tries to hold onto what remains of his NFL career with the New Orleans Steamers. Across the crowded bustle of a busy French Market, their paths collide, conjuring forgotten memories of a consuming touch, skin on skin, and the still smoldering fire that begs to be rekindled.

When Kona realizes the trifecta of betrayal—his, Keira's and those lies told to keep them apart—his life is irrevocably changed and he once again takes Keira down with him into the fire that threatens to ignite them both.

My Review

So like many people often do, I found myself in a book slump and no idea how to proceed. I had started and stopped two other books and was starting to think nothing would keep my attention. Then I read a thread on FB where this book came highly recommended and I scurried my tail off to Amazon to quickly purchase it. Not only that, but I purchased all the author’s other works as well. This book. This book shook me in the most devastating ways. I had an inkling of what was to come, and could see my theories start to play out, but even still knowing the outcome, the journey was no less equal parts heart breaking and heart warming. I’m a sucker for babes being produced from relationships or one night stands and the father not finding out for years. What were the reasons? Can he forgive her? Do they find their way back together? These are all questions you will have to answer for yourself and read to find out. But the journey? SO worth the road it takes to get there.

I’ve read books before where one of the characters had anger issues, but never a story where both did. This fact alone fed the need in me for passionate drama. The kind in which things were thrown, items were broken, and hearts were shredded. The insane, volatile way these characters grew to love each other had be as addicted to them as they were to each other. Some stories give you insta love and some give you slow burn. This was most certainly a slow burn, and I loved every single agonizing second of it. I will admit there were a few parts I skimmed, just wanting to get to the interaction and dialogue, but they were few and far between and didn’t take away from the story. It was more from me being an impatient reader. But Butler’s prose captivated me from the beginning and refused to loosen its hold on my mind. I felt at times that I was the one going insane, but like the characters, it was a delicious kind of burn.

In some books, the miscommunication that causes couples to break before their time can be enough to make you want to pull your hair out. And while this book definitely did that, I also had the logic to understand that given the circumstances there wasn’t much that could have been said to rectify the situation for a beneficial outcome for all parties. Emotions were too heightened and tragedy too personal had occurred. It would have been disaster for all involved if time apart had not occurred. It sure doesn’t feel like it at the time, but in retrospect, I can see that now. And I love that the author drew that logic from me. I love that she made me think from the perspective of an outsider, yet someone intimately knowledgeable of the players involved. I love that years later when our characters meet again, the growth in each is as undeniable as their love for each other.

Simply put, this book pulled me from a funk and made me feel, which really is all I look for when turning the pages. Thin Love gave me that in spades and my heart feels like a cup running over. Tip me on my side; I can take no more. These characters are delicious in every way and the strength of their devotion and the road it took to get there makes every pothole stumbled across on the journey worth it. Because a love like theirs? Well, that’s a love worth fighting for every time.

Keira Riley was the girl Kona Hale loved first, the woman he wants to love last. They’ve battled addiction, forgiven betrayal and healed from heartache, coming through it all bruised but hopeful that their future will be limitless.

Kona Hale was a blinding flame that Keira Riley gladly burned inside—his touch, his kiss, his overwhelming love, all made her dizzy, desperate and desired, made her believe in a love worth bleeding for, a love that ignites the heart with an unquenchable flame. But when you fall in love with an NFL darling who can’t seem to let go of the spotlight, sometimes even that flame can be gutted by the buffeting winds of opportunity, can be lost behind the brilliant flash of fame.

As Keira and Kona get caught up in plans for an extravagant march down the aisle, the hard won sanctuary they’ve found in each other’s arms begins to erode. Will they be able to see through all the beckoning glitz and glamour to what they have worked so hard to build together, or will their love be lost in the spotlight?

Coming August 2015!

He doesn’t ask their names.

He doesn’t deserve to know them.

Ransom Riley Hale’s friends think his life is charmed: first string as a freshman on a championship-winning college football team. A father with two Super Bowl rings. A mother with platinum albums and multiple Grammies under her belt. But that brilliant shine on the surface hides the darkness beneath; it’s all Ransom has ever known.

Despite the shadows he walked in, once there was a blinding light fracturing the darkness. It brought the promise of hope and happiness. He’d been careless, filled with pride and stupidity and lost that light. Ripped it from the world.

Now, the shadows are dimming again. Aly King surges into his life threatening to pull him from the darkness. She is everything Ransom can never be again. Her light feels too warm, promises him that there is more waiting for him beyond the shadows.

But the shadows are relentless, resurfacing when he thinks he is safe, and Ransom knows he must keep Aly from them too before he pulls her down into the darkness with him.

About Eden Butler

Eden Butler is an editor and writer of Romance, Suspense, Mystery and SciFi and Fantasy novels and the nine-times great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum. Her debut novel, a New Adult, Contemporary (no cliffie) Romance, “Chasing Serenity” launched in October 2013 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller.

When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.

She is currently imprisoned under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana.